Ford EcoSport : Official Review

This is a discussion on Ford EcoSport : Official Review within Official New Car Reviews, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Beefed up hatch back?!!
It took so long to conclude like this?
It simply that grape is sour :-)
I'm ...

I'm driving this design innovation of this year. Drive for a day out two' you will certainly will realize it's not that small at all. I call it a innovative and one of the best package; because of that elegant and thought provoking package made for both city and highways. Recently I took my TDCI beast to Bandipur national park. Can't tell u in words how happy and smooth drive it was....

Unfortunately, all proud owners are all busy in accessories section. ..

It's funny how after the price hike, many people who previously loved the Ecosport, now believe that it's just a beefed up hatch. The number of people who think on such lines has increased significantly.

I know the price hike so early is a bit saddening, but that doesn't change what Ecosport is. IMO, it does what it claims and it's a decent mix of features, comfort and drivability at it's price.

You are right that objectively Ecosport still remains the same vehicle but then increased comparison to sedans like Verna/Vento/Rapid is obvious since the price differential is reducing rather fast.

Secondly its natural since people are now getting more discontented with the harsh treatment Ford is offering them. I have 2 Fords in my garage but feel sad the way Ford has been acting.

You are right that objectively Ecosport still remains the same vehicle but then increased comparison to sedans like Verna/Vento/Rapid is obvious since the price differential is reducing rather fast.

You are right, however the comparable variants of sedans are still a cool 1 lakh more. The titanium variant comparable to sedans like Rapid elegance,Vento highline,Verna SX costs 11.2 lakhs on-road(expected to reduce to 11.05 after the price-cut) whereas all the sedans except Rapid are priced upwards of 12 lakhs, in the 12.1-12.3 range. However, they do offer more space,comfort and power.

Hyundai has started giving discounts for the Verna EX variant since it is priced the same as the EcoSport Titanium. You don't get alloys and passenger airbag but it's pretty well loaded other wise.

Skoda is giving a 5 year warranty, 5 year maintenance package and in the leisure model you get leather, sat nav, reversing camera as extra features. The Leisure model is now almost the same as Ecosport Titanium.

VW is giving free insurance and 3 year maintenance on the Vento. Price is around 30K more than Ecosport Titanium.

Looks like the EcoSport is making the Verna, Vento and Rapid a VFM option and hard to resist.

How long it took for Chennai ford to provide you with the booking number after booking? When I booked (1st Sep), my SA said that he will give the booking number within a week. Still I didn't receive it. But I got the confirmation call from Ford India on 10th. Does it mean that my booking has been forwarded to Ford? Or is it still sleeping in Dealers place?

If ford has called to confirm your booking then your booking has been taken by ford. For the booking number keep calling the SA each day. I got the receipt of the booking amount which contains the booking number and date. But this number is only a dealers booking number.

Hyundai has started giving discounts for the Verna EX variant since it is priced the same as the EcoSport Titanium. You don't get alloys and passenger airbag but it's pretty well loaded other wise.

Skoda is giving a 5 year warranty, 5 year maintenance package and in the leisure model you get leather, sat nav, reversing camera as extra features. The Leisure model is now almost the same as Ecosport Titanium.

VW is giving free insurance and 3 year maintenance on the Vento. Price is around 30K more than Ecosport Titanium.

Looks like the EcoSport is making the Verna, Vento and Rapid a VFM option and hard to resist.

Not to forget Fiat Linea Emotion 1.3 multijet is being offered 1L Discount making it 10.85L OTR in Bangalore which is about 20k less than titanium

Hyundai has started giving discounts for the Verna EX variant since it is priced the same as the EcoSport Titanium. You don't get alloys and passenger airbag but it's pretty well loaded other wise.

Skoda is giving a 5 year warranty, 5 year maintenance package and in the leisure model you get leather, sat nav, reversing camera as extra features. The Leisure model is now almost the same as Ecosport Titanium.

VW is giving free insurance and 3 year maintenance on the Vento. Price is around 30K more than Ecosport Titanium.

Looks like the EcoSport is making the Verna, Vento and Rapid a VFM option and hard to resist.

Actually you can get an elegance Rapid at 11.3L (actual OTR is 12.16L) plus you can get some freebies (like rear parking sensors with camera, navigation, premium mats, external paint protection, skoda assure, extended warranty etc). That is why I cancelled my Ecosport booking and bought a Rapid . The Rapid atleast seems VFM compared to the ecosport (and that engine is a monster and is a breeze to drive in traffic).

Here's the latest brochure I got from the dealer - all confusions on keyless entry and remote central locking are cleared here.

Titanium (both manual and automatic) does not have keyless entry and push button start. Titanium now joins the lower trims in having only remote central locking with flip key.

The SA I spoke to doesn't have clarity on whether Ford adjusted Titanium variant's pricing to absorb this change. As a customer, I'd expect them to do that, but as a business, I am not obligated, especially when us, customers are jumping head over heals for an allocation.

Also, surprisingly, Ford dealers started bringing the test-drive vehicles to apartment complex and setting up a stall within the promises after paying rent to the society. Don't know why they need to go out of their way to market their car. When I asked them what's the trend on test-drives is, they said that there are almost no walk-ins in recent times. The dust must finally be settling down.

Titanium (both manual and automatic) does not have keyless entry and push button start. Titanium now joins the lower trims in having only remote central locking with flip key.

The SA I spoke to doesn't have clarity on whether Ford adjusted Titanium variant's pricing to absorb this change. As a customer, I'd expect them to do that, but as a business, I am not obligated, especially when us, customers are jumping head over heals for an allocation.

Also, surprisingly, Ford dealers started bringing the test-drive vehicles to apartment complex and setting up a stall within the promises after paying rent to the society. Don't know why they need to go out of their way to market their car. When I asked them what's the trend on test-drives is, they said that there are almost no walk-ins in recent times. The dust must finally be settling down.

The dust has started settling faster than Ford anticipated perhaps. This is what negative word of mouth publicity can do. Take your customers for granted for too long and sooner than later, the numbers will start pinching. I sincerely do hope that Ford and its dealers wake up and smell the coffee. All said and done, EcoSport is still a good product, sadly tarnished by the greedy and unprofessional dealers and Ford itself. They might have, if not killed, atleast sedated the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Also, surprisingly, Ford dealers started bringing the test-drive vehicles to apartment complex and setting up a stall within the promises after paying rent to the society. Don't know why they need to go out of their way to market their car. When I asked them what's the trend on test-drives is, they said that there are almost no walk-ins in recent times. The dust must finally be settling down.

When you use one year waiting periods as a badge of honour, rather than to communicate to prospects you are concerned and doing all you can to improve, its perhaps not surprising when folks make up their minds without walking in

This is a surprising move from Ford India. Increase in the price is natural considering the fact that Rupee is depreciating and companies have to maintain their profitability. But the reasoning for deleting features in Titanium variant is really silly. IMO Ford should have at least absorbed the price hike and features kept unchanged for the cars which are already booked.

Looks Ford wants to reclaim the money they lost by recalling Figo and Classic from EcoSport.

I asked my SA about his opinion about the feature deleting exercise. He felt its a cheap thing to do by any manufacturer and he feels ashamed to clarify the reasons behind the deletion with the customers.
He acknowledged the fact that all this can happen only till maruti/Hyundai come up with their replies.
If XA alpha launch was within an year I would have happily cancelled my booking.
Ecosport is a great car more because of the lack of competition.

When you use one year waiting periods as a badge of honour, rather than to communicate to prospects you are concerned and doing all you can to improve, its perhaps not surprising when folks make up their minds without walking in

Exactly. I for one was on the look out for a city runabout and was eagerly waiting for the ecosport. But finally made up my mind against it even without a walkin due to the bad publicity of the waiting period and the arrogant ford attitude. Now have already booked the GT TSI and awaiting delivery. Hoping someone bring their feet to the ground pretty fast.

Hi Rajneesh. Even I was thinking on the exact same lines. I'm a huge fan of Hyundai and was seriously thinking about the Verna. It has a much better cockpit fit and finish. And people like us spend more time inside the car compared to seeing it from the outside.

But well, again, given the hopeless condition of roads in Bengaluru, the Ecosport provides the much needed ground clearance and a safety aspect given its size. Moreover, in the 11L range, there is no other better option than the package which the Ecosport offers. What do you think ?

AVM,
The Ecosport GC is a definite positive on our roads ( I have a low clearance Figo and an SX4 so I know the difference. While I have to really baby walk the Figo over the speed breakers with a prayer on my lips, in SX4 I couldn't care less).

However, the GC of all sedans is not so low. Moreover the same can be corrected to a degree by going in for bigger wheels / tyres with taller side walls). We all have been managing without the likes of ES and Renault Duster so far.

In my case, the SX4 is doing just fine. All it needs is a tyre change. So the ES was not a "need" but a "want" an emotional rather than a rational decision. I can afford to wait for 1-2 years easily before I replace my car. I believe we will see a lot of action in the small SUV sector and pices will come down as competition increases. However, for people who need a car now the situation is different.

Honda is likely to launch the new City ( which I hope has reasonable GC) in some time. XA Alpha and Hyundai SUV should also roll in in the next year.

I am also interested in the new Octavia ( hope it is not priced out of my reach) which is a great car ( with GC as low as 155mm, it is a miracle that TBHP and Auto Car reviewers did not ground it in the drives in HP. )

When I asked them what's the trend on test-drives is, they said that there are almost no walk-ins in recent times. The dust must finally be settling down.

The situation at my dealer in bangalore is quite different. I spent close to 2 hours at the dealership TDing Ecosport,Fiesta classic and I saw 3 walk-ins whe I was there. Infact they had 2 TD cars,one used at the showroom and the other being used for door-step TD's.

I'd been to another dealer on friday and there was one person taking a TD before I did and many checking the display car. The walk-ins must have dried up because of the waiting periods they very proudly display I guess, as per my dealer the total cancellations are less than 5% post price-hike and feature removal